A Game of Queen's and Their Wardens
by Relim
Summary: A young boy is sent as an answer to the prayers of a soon to be married Cersei Lannister. And so a new world awaits...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: So that there's no confusion, I'm laying no claim what-so-ever on any original content from the respective franchises of either 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'Games of Thrones'. No money or any other forms of profit is being made off of this work. This is just being done for fun in my spare time.

AN: Ok, this is a more edited version of the same chapters. Hope this resolves some of the issues that kept popping up.

AN: Also, to anyone who is expecting out and out 'character matching' as it were... I'm sorry but you might be disappointed. This story is mostly focused as a character piece more than anything else. The point of this project is to see just how everything would turn out for Cersei and those affected by her with Xander's interference with her 'original' life as my imagination sees it. Sorry if this leaves some of you wanting.

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Prologue:

It had been sudden. It had been so very, very sudden. As Buffy watch the casket containing the body of one of her best friends get lowered into the ground the knowledge that he was really dead finally sank in. For the last few days she had been in denial, a part of her thinking that he would just wake up and wonder why everyone was so sad before cracking some cheesy joke, making them all feel better, and telling them that what had happened had all been just a sort of terrible dream. But it hadn't been a dream; instead it was nothing more than yet another horrible reality.

A large group of assorted demons and the like had attacked her and her friends in an attempt to kill them before they could make their play the next day to stop the Mayor from ascending and a fledgling vampire had gotten in a lucky shot. Her friend's skull had been cracked in just the right way and it had killed him near instantly. The young man that had always had a funny joke or quip on hand that never failed to brighten even the worst of her moods, the man that always seemed to be able to think outside the box and form the plans that had saved them all so many times before, and the young man that, despite her trying to side line him again and again, just wouldn't give up, as if he truly didn't know the meaning of the word 'quit'. And she had always known deep down that he would never abandon her, never leave her. But now he was gone.

The remaining Scoobies, her mother, and a few friends and parents from school were all there to sadly watch as her friend's remains were lowered six feet down into the earth, all the while knowing that there wasn't a damned thing they could do about it. Hell, even some of the jocks and cheerleaders were there to pay their respects, but that didn't help to lessen the weight that she was feeling pressing down on her heart.

And no matter what she did or said or thought Buffy Summers could no longer deny the fact that Alexander 'Xander' Harris was dead and that she really didn't know what she was going to do now.

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It had been years since Cersei had genuinely prayed to any god out among the heavens that might be listening. In fact the last time she had done so had been the night of her mother's death, the day her little dwarf of a brother, Tyrion, had ripped his way into life. She had prayed with everything she had that night, offering up anything and everything that she had to give in exchange for her mother's life and health. But nothing had happened; her mother had remained dead and had buried not two days later. She hadn't prayed to anyone ever since.

Tonight though, she found herself on her knees before a Heart Tree that resided in the royal gardens for the first time since she had been four years old. But this time she didn't pray for anyone else's health or well-being. No, this night she prayed for herself. For tomorrow, at the age of 19, she was to marry a king, and even though she knew that she had no real choice in the matter, she really didn't want to.

The newly crowned Robert Baratheon didn't honestly look like an outright bad or evil man but she could tell, even at first glance, that he wouldn't make her a good husband. He was still too much in love with the now very dead Lyanna Stark and Cersei knew that his heart had gone with her when she'd been laid to rest in the ground. Never the less she was to marry the man and bare his children for him… At the end of the day her role was to act as nothing more than breeding stock for her father to barter off so that the seven kingdoms could be welded more firmly together.

This was her duty and she knew that she would fulfill said duty, but that didn't mean she had to like it. So she prayed, for the first time in 15 years she beseeched being that she wasn't sure she believed existed. She prayed that she would be able to stand her soon to be husband and that she would be able to bear him healthy children so as to not be cast aside and called a failure. But most of all she prayed to anyone that might be listening at the time that Robert Baratheon was a better man than he appeared to be and that their marriage would be something more than a sham set in motion by backroom politics run by power hungry old men.

She prayed and prayed… And apparently someone actually heard her! Though she had to admit that the solution that they offered her had not been what she'd expected.

Suddenly there was a series of what sounded to be loud thunderclaps followed by a bright pulsating light. Then there was the sound of a small boy's screams coming from up above her. As Cersei Lannister looked up to get a look at just what was going on above her she had just enough time to see whom the boyish scream had originated from as a smallish figure quickly appeared from nowhere while the lights and sounds that had seemingly created him vanished and gravity reclaimed him, right before her forehead exploded in pain. It seemed as if the mysterious boy had been somehow thrown at her by some higher power in such a way as if to say 'Well, you asked so here you go!' and that her head was apparently meant to catch the poor boy.

As their heads made contact however the strangest thing happened to her. It was as if, for the briefest moment of time, she could see down into this boy's very core and he could see straight down into hers. It was over as soon as it began though and she soon found herself blinking back tears caused by the headache she now felt coming on as she tried to get a better look at the boy that was rubbing his own head as he continued to sit practically on top of her.

He looked to be about eight or nine years old with slightly tanned skin, brown flowing locks, deep brown eyes, and his face gave her the impression that he could and would smile often when given the chance. The clothes he was wearing were strange though, she had never seen anything quite like them before.

"Ow…" The boy moaned out as he continued to rub his head, not yet noticing that he wasn't alone. "That really hurt."

"I should say so." Cersei said in return and for the life of her she couldn't keep the slight bit of humor that had entered her words at the sheer ridiculousness of her current situation. When she spoke though the boy finally realized what kind of position he was in and quickly scrambled off of her as he tried to fight down a furious blush. It was cute if nothing else. "What is your name boy?" Cersei asked as she made to stand while brushing herself off.

"Um… Xander. It's short for Alexander." The newly named 'Xander' said after a moment's thought.

'That's funny,' Cersei thought as he eyes bored into the boys' own brown orbs, 'it's almost as if he didn't remember his own name at first.'

"Alexander who?" Cersei asked as gently as she could. For a moment the brown haired boy only gave off a look of concentration that quickly gave way to genuine confusion before he answered her in a shaky and slightly frightened voice,

"Um, I don't know."

"Very well then, where are you from?" Cersei asked as she continued softly probing for more information.

"I don't know…" Xander said again, his voice now coming out with a bit more panic than before. Cersei, noticing what was about to happen, quickly sought to calm the poor boy's nerves but was interrupted by a shout from off to the side.

"Lady Lannister!" She heard from over back towards the palace and when she looked to see who it was that was yelling she saw a whole cadre of nobles and guards rushing her way. "My lady, are you all right!" Lord Vaerys asked as he came up to her, his face red from exertion. "I saw the most peculiar thing from the other end of the gardens and came here to investigate as quickly as I could."

"Everything's perfectly alright, I assure you." Cersei replied as she regained her calm. As she was speaking though she tried to subtly step in front of young Alexander, all the while hoping that he wouldn't be noticed.

"Oh, and who is this?" Vaerys asked curiously as he looked around Cersei to see a small boy that looked like he just wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

"This…" Cersei started to lie as her mind began to quickly formulate an excuse to cover the boy's sudden presence. "This is Alexander, a distant cousin that has been brought here for the wedding." Thankfully, Xander kept his mouth shut and didn't interrupt as he stared down at his own feet.

"Indeed?" Vaerys asked as he continued to observe the young boy in strange clothing. He didn't look at all like any other Lannister he'd ever seen, but depending on how far down the family tree this boy was he supposed it was possible. "How did he come to be here? Why isn't he with his parents instead?"

"His parents died very recently, and he has become a ward of our family. As to how he came to be here with me, well… Is a child not allowed to wander?" Cersei lied smoothly as her mind scrambled for a further explanation. She knew that Vaerys would of course seek to verify this information, he was King Landing's spy master after all, but she figured that if she could get to her father fast enough and convince him to go along with her story that everything would be alright.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Vaerys replied as he shot a sad smile towards the young lad that had yet to speak before looking back towards his future queen. "And you're sure that everything is alright?"

"Yes, of course it is." Cercei answered with a dismissive wave of her hand while her face became a mask of classic Lannister arrogance.

"Very well then." Vaerys said as he started gesturing for the guards and lesser nobles that he had brought with him to return to either their posts or whatever else he had pulled them away from. "I will see you on the 'morrow than. Goodnight, Lady Cersei." And with that the generally pleasant spy master disappeared back into the shadows.

Cersei could only sigh in relief when it was just her and the mystery boy Xander once again before her spine stiffened up as a thought struck her. Why had she lied for a boy that she had just met? It was as if she couldn't bring herself to just turn the boy over to the guards and forget about him. Then it dawned on her.

This boy was her gift from the Gods themselves. You didn't just throw something or someone like that away. As she looked back at the boy that still hadn't moved from the same spot he'd been standing in since Vaerys' arrival and subsequent departure she knew that her father was of course going to be furious with her for the lie that she'd woven and would most likely fight the idea of adopting this strange boy into the family. But she knew that she would fight him right back, and while she also knew that she generally didn't go against her father's wishes in such ways there was just something about this boy that made the very core of her existence shout out at her to keep him close.

And if her father didn't like it? Well, she was about to be a queen…

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AN: So? Please review, it make me happy.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: More edited goodness. Still not perfect but hey, I'm happy with it.

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"But father!" Cersei said urgently as she pleaded with the older man that was sitting in front of her with a heavy scowl on his face.

"No!" Tywin Lannister said with a tone of finality as he interrupted his daughter with a harsh slashing of his hand. "You will not be bringing some random boy into the family, no matter how distant we could claim him to be, just because you would like to keep him as a pet!"

"But father, he literally fell from the sky! Surely something like that doesn't happen too often." Cersei countered, all the while knowing full well that her father at least partially believed that part. He knew that she was particularly intelligent and wasn't prone to the random flight of fancy, so she wouldn't just make something like this up. As the two of them argued in the head of the Lannister family's private quarters young Alexander managed to stay in the corner that had been indicated he stand in without fidgeting too much. All in all this was quite a feat for an eight year old.

"Even if I did believe you, you would be asking me to take a complete stranger, boy or otherwise, into the family and make him my ward. Without solid proof of his worth I won't waste my time on him." Tywin explained firmly as the ideals that he had lived by for most of his life came to the front of his mind. The family always came first, that and advancement of the family as a whole. And anything that got in the way of these two rules was something to be destroyed without quarter or mercy, no exceptions.

"Please father…" Cersei pleaded one more time with as much dignity as she could still muster. Something inside of her was rebelling at the idea of letting young Alexander out of her sight. That something was telling her that many bad things would come her way if she let the boy go. For his part Tywin Lannister could only look at his daughter in shock at the tone that she was using for a moment before he shook his head to clear it and a compromise came to mind.

"Very well, Cersei." The old man said with a put upon sigh. "If it means that much to you I'm sure we can find him a place in the stables or in the kitchens. That way he'll at least be nearby and taken care of." And Cersei was just about to try arguing once again when the realization that what she was being offered would be all that she was getting hit her, so she lowered her head and nodded her silent, if somewhat unwilling, agreement. With that Tywin gestured for the guard at the door to approach and take the boy to either the kitchens or the stables as stated. What came next though made him quickly change his mind.

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The lady he'd come with looked sad... This was the only thought that Xander found himself able to process as his gaze locked with hers from over in the corner he that was still standing in. And even though he had just met her, Xander already knew that he didn't like it when she was sad. …The old man wanted him to go away and that was making the lady sad. He would have to fix that, and oddly enough he found that he only really knew of one way to do it… Make sure that the guard couldn't take him anywhere.

So after a couple of moments when the guard reached for him Xander acted as quickly as he could. When the armored guard's gauntlet covered hand touched his shoulder Xander spun around and used his small fist to deliver a quick a surprisingly painful strike to the underside of the man's exposed wrist, numbing it instantly. This was quickly followed up by a blow to the inside of his left knee and Xander could have sworn he heard the sound of bone breaking before he moved on. The guard was now kneeling over on one knee with only one of his hands available to him.

It didn't matter though, because said guard was too busy clutching at his now ruined knee and shouting in pain to be able to even think of making a grab for his weapon with his still good hand so that he could defend himself against this little beast of a boy. This in turn only gave Xander the opportunity to finish what he had set out to do and before he knew it he was practically flying around the fallen guard's shoulders. All the while with a firm grip on the nameless man's chin.

* * *

The sound of the guard's neck snapping made even Tywin Lannister wince a little. Thankfully though he quickly recovered from the sight of a young boy essentially executing a fully trained palace guard while said boy caught his breath and the now dead guard slumped to the ground. Unbeknownst to Xander though, the moment that he'd sprang into action his eyes had begun to glow and give off a strong green and gold light the whole time that he'd been moving. This light had quickly faded away however by the time he had completely calmed down but that didn't stop Tywin Lannister from becoming even more unnerved by the boy's actions. Just who was this child?

Surprisingly though Cersei didn't even look the slightest bit uncomfortable at the boy's murder of a full grown man, and even if she had been at some point he hadn't seen it. If anything the look she now was giving her father was one of triumph. As if to say, 'See, I told you that this boy is worth something!' And for the life of him Tywin could only nod his head in silent agreement as brand new plans began forming in his mind at a rapid pace.

"So I see that you don't want to go to the kitchens…" Tywin began sardonically as he studied the boy while his daughter gestured for said boy to come over to her.

When the lad reached her though Tywin found himself by now unsurprised at how Cersei put her arm around the boy and held him close in an almost possessive manner. And seeing the feat that this mystery lad had just achieved he couldn't say he blamed her. She'd had such a veritable treasure seemingly thrown at her by fate itself after all. Chances like these didn't just come around all that often and when they did happen along one didn't just throw them away. Such a person at the beck and call of his daughter, where he could by proxy shape the lad as he grew as he saw fit, could possibly be a great boon for his family.

"So if you will not leave my daughter, what shall I do with you?" Tywin Lannister finally asked after a few seconds of reflection. And that was certainly the question of the day now wasn't it? And it didn't really help matters in that his daughter was to wed the king of the Seven Kingdoms in mere a matter of hours either.

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AN: Yet again, please don't forget to drop a line ^^.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: More editing has been done ^^!

AN: And just FYI, A few of the details on Ancile have been shifted around a tiny bit.

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Today was his fourteen name day and to be completely honest he was excited. Today was the day that his 'cousin' Queen Cersei and her husband King Robert were going to let him design his first real sword. As a result Xander had spent the last part of a week going over multiple designs. Design after design had been drawn up only to be discarded moments later when he found them to be imperfect, but every time he did this he would take away something from his previous assorted works and integrate them into his latest one. And finally, after nearly a hundred different attempts, he had the specifications to just the right blade.

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To say that King Robert Baratheon was surprised by the rather detailed work that his wife's favorite young cousin had presented to him would be an understatement. When Cersei had first told him of her idea on just what to give young Alexander for his fourteenth name day he had actually thought that it was a good suggestion. It had been simple really; let the boy design his own sword. So they had given him a week to come up with his own designs for the blade in question and even though he liked the boy quite a bit Robert had been expecting Alexander to put forth a request for a monster of a weapon like most young teenagers would have.

If anything Robert had expected Alexander to make an attempt at wielding something most men couldn't even comfortably lift, let alone properly use. But no, the boy had ended up surprising him yet again with what he had imagined for his first real blade.

It was to be a two-handed, double-bladed long sword and was to be made out of primarily of high grade steel and Dragon Bone. The handle was to be wrapped in particularly tough leather and aside from the request for all the none steel parts to be made of Dragon Bone (Thank the Gods that they still had all those dragon skulls collecting dust down in the dungeons.) the only odd things about the blade that Alexander had designed were the series 'Old God' runes that where to be forged down the blood grooves on both sides of the blade and the fact that during the the initial forging of the steel dusted dragon bone was to be added.

All in all, aside from the materials it was to be made from and the runes that were apart of its design, the sword that he was about to have the best blacksmith in King's Landing commissioned for was a rather straight forward affair, almost modest even. There was to be no gold inlaid along the handle, no gem incrusted scabbard or hand guard and pommel, in fact, outside of the runes, there was to be no real embellishment at all. This sort of behavior was actually one of the things Robert like most about the boy, because even though Alexander was one of the best fighters in the capital, despite his age, he was still relatively humble about his lot in life.

Not to say that the boy in question NEVER got a big head, but when such things did happen the lad usually had enough sense to not go off and brag about it too much. And when he didn't, well somebody usually came around and knocked him down a few pegs. When that failed though, even if it rarely did, he always listened to Cersei. Gods only knew why, but the boy ALWAYS listened to Cersei.

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It was here, it was here! His sword was here and despite the fact that he wasn't a 'child' anymore and that he was supposed to 'act his age' as a result Xander almost couldn't fight the urge to start jumping up and down as the excitement nearly took him over. It had been nearly two weeks since King's Landing's best blacksmith had been set upon the task of creating his long sword and Xander had been waiting with baited breath ever since. But now it was here, and it was waiting for him.

As he stepped into the throne room Xander's eyes automatically landed on the smith and subsequently the long package said smith was holding. Also waiting for his arrival were his 'cousins' Tyrion and Cersei along with King Robert, Jon Arryn, the rest of the current Small Council, and small a handful of the palace guard. Jaime wasn't there and neither was the now five year old Joffrey. Xander wasn't going to complain about that though because both missing individuals seemed to detest his very existence as a rule. And if he were to be honest he didn't like them either.

"Alexander, come and join us. Your sword is ready." Queen Cersei instructed with a smile as she waved him over and he automatically made a bee line for her. His queen knew that he preferred it when she used Xander instead of Alexander when addressing him and she did when they were in private, but she had told him that she didn't like him going by that name in public. She said that it was to be something for just the two of them and no one else and the idea that she had wanted something, no matter how small, to be just between two of them made him happy so he had quickly agreed.

From that point on the rest of the world, even all the other Lannisters that he was around on a regular basis, knew him only as Alexander. But when it was just the two of them, even though such times were growing fewer and farther between as the years passed and Cersei began to bear Robert's children, he was only Xander and she was only Cersei. As he approached the dais where his queen and king were sitting he could see that the blacksmith that had been selected for the task of creating his sword was growing more and more nervous as he grew closer. Was he worried that he had somehow messed up the first royal order that he'd received in months?

'No,' Xander thought to himself firmly with a slight shake of his head, 'if he had he would still be working away in his shop instead of trying to present a finished product to me.'

"Ah cousin, I truly do look forward to seeing what you've asked to be made for your name day. So much secrecy was involved, so I'm betting that it's nothing short of spectacular!" Xander's diminutive cousin Tyrion exclaimed with a smile as the young man in question finished his approach and most of the Small Council merely gave indulgent smiles of their own to accompany the dwarf's words. Xander had always liked the small man, the two of them got along well and if nothing else Tyrion Lannister was always good for a laugh or a funny story.

"Indeed," Jon Arryn intoned from off to the side as he gave his own approving nod to the newly arrived Alexander, "many of us are curious as to what you requested for you name day present."

"Well, let's get on with it then!" Robert exclaimed as he grew tired of the pleasantries, only to have his 'wife' send him an irritated glare while his Small Council tried to hold back their almost collective exasperated sighs. King Robert Baratheon wasn't known for his patience after all.

"My king, my queen, my lords…" The master smith said as he tried his best not to stutter with all the rather powerful sets of eyes now upon him. "May I present to you the sword 'Ancile'." With that the smith unwrapped the package that he was carrying to unveil the one piece that he considered to be his one true master work. "I must say my lords," the smith continued as he held the sword out, pommel first, towards a waiting Alexander, "there was just something about the forging of this blade that seemed special to me. I can truly say that even though this is far from the most ornate thing that I've ever created, I truly consider this to be my one master piece."

With that the smith only watched with a small satisfied smile, his nervousness now forgotten, as Alexander slowly placed his hand around the hilt of the sword he was being given, got a firm but comfortable grip on it, and swiftly pulled it from its scabbard with one hand so that he could better inspect it. And there was only one word in which he could truly describe it; perfect. It was perfect; it was exactly what he had wanted in every detail all the way to the very precise placement of runes down both sides of its center, and Xander was just about to give his compliments to the smith responsible for the creation of such a fine weapon when something happened.

Suddenly it felt like a fire had erupted within his veins, the same fire that poured through him whenever he was either fighting, training, or very angry only much larger. This time though the energy within him wasn't being channeled towards his hands or his feet… This time the energy roaring away inside of his chest was headed towards the sword in his hands as his eyes began to give off their telltale ethereal glow.

What the others present in the room were seeing however was something that would stick firmly within their memories for the rest of their days. There was Alexander standing stock still, his eyes now giving off an unearthly shine of green and gold, as the runes on the sword he was holding up began to ever so slowly give off the same glow as the young man's own normally brown orbs.

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Cersei, for her part, could only stand there and watch in fascination as something happened between her one true companion in the world and the sword that he was holding up for all to see. And while normally she would be panicking at the thought of something happening to her 'gift' something about what she was witnessing actually seemed to have a calming effect on her. Somewhere deep down inside she knew that what was happening to her beloved Xander was a good thing and that she should not interfere.

On the down side though, no one but herself, her father, and (unfortunately) her brother Tyrion (whom had stumbled upon the information a few years back by accident) truly knew of just how special Alexander really was. Not even Jaime knew the full extent of why his father kept the seemingly random boy so very close to his family and even called him a Lannister. Sure the boy's eyes glowed from time to time, but how special could he really be? Actually, it was probably the fact that no one was telling him just what made Alexander a favorite of the family that drove him to hate the young man with such a passion in the first place. Oh well, one of Xander's bigger secrets was out now and there really wasn't anything she could do about it. All she could really hope for in the end was to try and keep these happenings as quiet as possible.

After a moment, when everything had died down and returned to normally, the first things to be said by any of the people present was from king Robert's own mouth as he gave a loud exclamation of,

"By the Gods! Cersei, you never told me that you Lannisters had any of the old blood in you!" Oh, her father was just going to love that. Even if it wasn't true, because Xander wasn't really related by blood to the Lannisters, he would use it anyway so as to give his enemies yet another reason to fear the name of his family.

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AN: Reviews be of the good! 'Wink-Wink'


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Yep, you guessed it... Even more editing.

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'Has it really been twelve years?' Xander 'Lannister', also known as the Queen's Warden, thought to himself as he rode his mighty grey and black colored steed Bellum alongside the queen's carriage as a near constant guard while he helped to transport the royal family on to Winterfell for some sort of visit. It had been just over twelve years since his fourteenth name day, when he had received and bonded with Ancile.

Through the primal energies that somehow coursed through his veins Xander had bonded with the sword near on the moment his fingers had touched her hilt for the very first time. With this bonding came a few different advantages that other warriors did not have with their own weapons. He could summon Ancile to his hand at any time no matter the distance between them. She would literally just appear in his hand the moment he required her. Another ability that she possessed was the fact that she didn't need periodic maintenance as other blades did. Ancile never needed sharpening and Xander never needed to worry about her being broken. Not that he would be testing this last ability of course, but a part of him just seemed to know that she would never shatter or even bend. Not even if he, for some strange reason, wanted her to.

This alone was enough to make every knight that knew about Alexander and his sword green with envy. So all in all it was a good thing that Ancile was sentient enough to recognize anyone who would try to wield her without permission, so that she could punish any interlopers accordingly. As it was Xander had to stop himself from snorting out loud as he rode when the memory of the one-time Joffrey had tried to pick her up entered his mind. To say that Ancile had found him to be unworthy would be an understatement. The spoiled boy still flinched away from him every time Xander approached too quickly.

"Alexander, come up here!" King Robert called from further up the line of horses and wagons. So lightly kicking Bellum's flank to make him speed up Xander pulled himself alongside the king after a few moments and asked,

"My king?"

"Tell me," Robert started with a slight smile for the now 26 year old warrior at his side, "What do you know of the Starks?" He had always like Alexander and had even favored him on occasion, but despite what many believed Robert knew whom it was that truly held the man's leash, and that was his 'wife'. Hell, Robert Baratheon was pretty sure that if Cersei ever ordered it, with enough reasoning behind such an order, that her 'Warden' would gut him without too much hesitation. King or no king if it ever came down to a choice between him and his queen Robert knew without a doubt that the mighty Alexander would choose Cersei over him any day.

Regardless, Robert still liked the younger man, if for no other reason than the fact that he was honest nearly to a fault. Though on the flip side of that issue the Warden was an extremely difficult person to lie to, in fact this difficulty had been what had caught spy after spy and assassin after assassin in and around the courts of the Iron Throne for years.

Also the king of the Seven Kingdoms knew to NEVER make the same mistake that so many warriors before him had made in regards to Alexander's might. For there was no mistaking the fact that though he didn't look like too terribly much at first glance (more like a proud and righteous soldier than the infamous warrior he really was), Alexander, the Queen's Warden, was MIGHTY! Before Ancile had been forged Alexander had been good, almost frighteningly good in fact, for his age but after Ancile had come into the picture he had quickly become a warrior of almost peerless skill. In just a few short years the younger man had gone from being infamous for the skills he'd almost seemed born with to being thought of as practically unbeatable.

Time and again though the younger man had been offered knighthood after knighthood and time and again he would give the exact same response. He would say that he was happy to just serve as the queen's bodyguard and that he required nothing more for what he simply considered a duty that he was happy to perform. And if anything this simple, and completely honest, statement made most of the nobles at court extremely nervous, because Alexander was a man that could NOT be brought, bribed, or coerced into betraying the queen and by proxy Robert himself.

'It's too bad that such amazing talent is wasting away in the hands of such an ice cold bitch though...' Robert thought ruefully as he shook his head clear of the thoughts running rampant through his mind. Alexander was now looking at him with a wary sort of caution as he continued to wait for the king to speak. 'The poor lad probably thinks that he is in some sort of trouble now.' Robert thought right before he said,

"I'm sorry, my mind wandered there for a moment. What did you say?"

"My lord I said that all I know of the Starks is what I learned from books and the few times that I have met any of them." Alexander replied smoothly as his posture relaxed again.

"Ah, well never the less I feel I should tell you a bit about Edd if nothing else. The man is one of the most honorable men that you will ever meet. As such I would like to enlist your help in keeping an eye on certain individuals in my family while we are guests in Winterfell. I don't need them embarrassing me in front of my old friend and his family." Robert instructed, his voice suddenly firm as he doled out his orders.

"Of course, my king." Was all Alexander said as he gave a slight bow to acknowledge that he understood what it was that he was supposed to do. The king's instructions were of course unneeded but welcome regardless, if for no other reason than it gave Xander the authority to better keep Joffrey in line should it become necessary. And if Xander was going to be honest it probably would be at some point.

"Very good. And how many times do I have to tell you that unless we are at court or another official sort of function that you could call me Robert?" the king now asked with a full blown grin adorning his bearded features. Alexander of course didn't give any answer to this except for a small smile and nod of acknowledgement like always and the two men kept on quietly riding side by side for a few moments before the younger of the two of them spoke up again.

"My lor… Robert, I have to ask. Do you intent to make Eddard Stark the new Hand?" Alexander asked somberly. Xander could honestly say that he'd liked the recently deceased Jon Arryn despite the fact that he'd caught numerous spies of his snooping around the queen and her family over and over again. Thankfully though he'd rarely had to kill any of them, and he'd barely even have to lay a hand on any children that he'd caught. Never the less the two of them had held many an in depth conversation (these often including one of Xander's favorite 'cousins' Tyrion) over the years and Xander would genuinely miss the old man.

"Yes." Robert answered simply as the royal caravan continued ever so slowly on to the north. "I just hope his honor doesn't get him killed. The courts are no real place for it." Alexander didn't say anything to that; he didn't have to because he knew that such a statement was unfortunately true. And he was just about to ask another question when he a familiar heard a voice shouting from behind him.

"Alexander, come here please!" Queen Cersei called as she stuck her head outside of her carriage before spotting him and gesturing for him to come near. To do this all Xander did was bid Bellum to stop for a few moments while they waited for the queen's carriage to catch up to them.

"Don't worry lad," the king called back as he continued forward, "all women think of us men as dogs. That's why we men always just think of all of them as bitches!"

As the carriage he and Bellum were waiting on finished drawing up to them Xander gave his mount a gentle kick to the flanks to indicate that he should start walking again and the queen's voice reached his ears as they came along side each other.

"Don't worry Xander," Cersei said softly as she leaned slightly out of her carriage's window so as to better speak with him so that no one else could hear them, "I would never think of you as some mere dog. You are worth so much more to me than that."

"I'm glad to hear it, your Grace." Xander responded with equal softness in his voice and when he spied that the two youngest children Myrcella and Tommen were soundly sleeping further into the rolling construct they were housed in he let himself relax a little more. Even now, years after he had literally landed in his queen's lap and despite the fact that he was considered to be a rather large piece of the royal family by most, Xander only truly relaxed around Cersei, and she around him. In fact, she was still the only person that ever called him Xander and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Still when he was this close to his queen Xander would often have trouble keeping his voice from hitching when he sought to speak and his heart beat from accelerating too far, too fast. He had always loved her but over the last several years of his life that love had undertaken some not so subtle changes in more than a few ways. Mix that with the fact that Cersei Lannister was aging extremely well and had retained much of her beauty as the years passed and Xander knew that fighting his emotions in this particular area was hopeless. The Queen's Warden loved her, with all of his heart, and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it.

Contrary to popular belief Xander knew perfectly well what kinds of cruelty that she was capable of, that she more than able of being cold, callous, and calculating. He knew that she had willing done things that many of the more righteous persuasion would immediately condemn but in the end she had always done her duty. She had done what she'd thought to be necessary to keep herself and her family safe, and no matter what Xander still felt the same way about her that he had for the better part of a decade. Over the years her will had remaine indominable as she fulfilled her duty to her family and her kingdom and Xander knew that he could do no less.

So he would continue stand by her, ever vigilant, ever watchful. And all the while the Warden knew that he could never have her, so trying anything at all was automatically out of the question. Never the less, he would be there whenever she needed him, whenever she called for him, even though he knew one of the major reasons behind his devotion to her would never be returned. And still no harm would come to her while he continued to draw breath.

* * *

Jaime HATED his sister's precious 'Warden', simply hated him. In fact he hated Alexander the most out of so very many people. These were the only thoughts that he found himself capable of thinking while he silently observed as Cersei and Alexander quietly began to converse. Even as a child, his father's ward had the ability to see sides of his beloved sister that he could never hope to reach even if he was given a whole life time in which to do so. Jaime Lannister, twin brother of the Queen, had broken so many rules and laws for her, so many taboos that would get them both spit on and executed should their actions ever come to light. Forever shamed in both the eyes of history and the eyes of their family. And he had done these things gladly, all the while with a smile that clearly said that he was going to sleep well that night. And what did she do? She let some whelp into her confidences while he had to almost beg to even get a glimpse at the woman beneath the 'royal' mask.

And it didn't help that Alexander was ALREADY so far beyond him in terms of his skills in combat that it wasn't even funny. By the Gods, he'd had his ass handily torn apart by the younger man when said man had been but a teenager. Now that had been particularly humiliating, and what did his own family members do? They had praised the boy for laying him low!

His sister, while she did show genuine concern for her fallen brother, had given the young Alexander a hug of all things while stating that she was just happy that no permanent damage had been done to either of them. Jaime's younger brother Tyrion on the other hand had merely laughed his ass off as he ever so graciously excepted his winnings from having bet heavily on Alexander, while a whole lot of other people had thought that the 'poor boy' in question was going to get put firmly into the ground. Jaime Lannister was the known as the 'Kingslayer' after all. And his father?

The man that had allowed Alexander to be taken in as a ward of the House of Lannister had just given his oldest son a long look before shaking his head dismissively and walking away. Sure the older man had indeed warned his eldest that taking on Alexander might not be the best of ideas but he hadn't listened. All he could see was nothing but a boy after all. There was just something off about the strange boy and the rest of his family obviously knew what it was, but still they refused to tell him!

No matter what though, Jaime took pride in the fact that he had something that he KNEW Alexander coveted for himself. The eldest Lannister sibling saw it every time the boy gazed upon his sister whenever he thought no one was looking. The stupid dog loved his queen. And Jaime had his sister in ways that very few men had ever been able to have her, because he was the one she went to when she needed a good fuck. The thought almost made Jaime give off a manic grin and it was made all the sweeter due to the fact that he possessed and had experienced something that Alexander so secretly desired.

At the end of the day Alexander wanted to be the father of her children, except for Joffrey anyway, while Jaime secretly already was. He wanted to be the one that she came to whenever her blood was up and her desires were vying for control, Jaime had that part of her too. Alexander truly loved her and wanted to have a real and honest family with his queen, and so he pined away in secret and obeyed her every order because he could do nothing else. By the Gods, the stupid idiot still obeyed that order of hers that said he wasn't allowed to get laid. And all the while, even if it wasn't anywhere near public, Jaime had gotten there first in almost every way that mattered.

So for now Alexander could hold her heart and have more of her trust than anyone else in the world. He didn't care. It was a pity though, that the Kingslayer couldn't rub the fact that he had already had the stupid woman's cunt a countless number of times in her precious Warden's face.

* * *

This, as she leaned ever so slightly out of her carriage with her Warden riding beside her as they talked, was the closest that Cersei Lannister had come to actually being alone with Xander for the better part of two months, and she was reveling in the experience. If she had her way there would be at least a little time set aside during each day that would be for just the two of them. But no, as things stood such an arrangement was not to be. So for now she would take what she could get and she would let her usual mask fall away for every moment of it.

When Alexander had first come into her life the better part of 18 years ago he had been but a scrap of a boy that just happened to have an innate talent for taking life. Despite this though she had sought to protect him from as much as he could, for the world was often a cruel place and she didn't want to risk losing her 'gift' to it. And had Xander allowed it she would have inadvertently spoiled him rotten over the passing years. But no, unlike most children Xander had always been of the opinion that a man was only as good as his actions dictated he be, that they were only as good or as bad as what they had earned through the years.

As a result of having such an attitude he had of course grown into a fine man that was especially known in particular for his honor and his sense of justice, despite what he had been privy to her doing to protect herself and those around her over time. Also, in the last handful of years, he had gained the almost universal acknowledgement of being one of the finest warriors in the Seven Kingdoms. But most importantly (more important than his honor, his martial skills, or anything else that he happened to be involved in) Xander had become most known for his complete and utter loyalty to her.

Time and again he turned down knighthoods and petty lords trying to marry their daughters off on him and he would always give the same response when they in turn asked why he continued to refuse advancement. He would always say that he would never seek any form of higher office or purpose in life but to serve his queen. That he required nothing more within his existence but to protect her from all harm at all costs.

What more was there for her to love in a man that Xander did not already possess? To her mind, nothing… And as a result of his continued and unwavering support Cersei was damnably protective of the man that had come from the boy that had fallen from the sky. For instance nearly ten years ago, when Xander had been 16, she had found herself wondering just where her most loyal bodyguard and companion had gotten off to in the middle of one of her brother-in-law Renly's masquerade ball's, so she had gone looking for him. The position that she'd eventually found him in had made her anything but happy.

There he had been getting a rather thorough kiss and grope from a rather pretty looking servant girl as his hands began to explore new territory, but the two of them had quickly separated when she had strolled into the room. It was in that moment that she realized that her little gift was growing up and not in the ways that involved him taking his first life, because he had been taking the life from others when he had to for years by that point. No, he was growing into his manhood in other ways, as teenagers where often prone to do.

Now there was no way that she was going to let her precious Xander be sullied by anyone, let alone some overly dainty and ambitious servant girl. So when the party was over, the servant girl dismissed, and everyone was asleep for the night she had gone to the young Alexander's rooms (that just happened to be only a few rooms down from her own) for a talk. And by the end of the night she had all but ordered Alexander to never lie with anyone, woman or otherwise. Which, to her knowledge, he'd thankfully followed said order from the night it was given onward and therefore never had to dirty his hands with someone unworthy of him in that fashion. And now, ten year later, Xander had finally finished growing into a man, a fine man.

It was time to begin her plans to fully and forever lay claim to him. Of course she couldn't just take him into her bed and try to have his children. No, first she needed to clear the way. She was married to a king after all. Arranging for an accident to take him form this world should be more than easy enough though, so removing Robert as an obstacle that stood between her and the life she truly sought wouldn't be too big of an issue. Now her brother on the other hand was an entirely different set of problems…

When she had first taken Jaime into her bed all those years ago the one thought in her mind, outside of relieving her own urges, had been the production of an heir that she could call Robert's. Yes, she loved Jaime but not in the way that would let her take any other man outside those she had to into her bed. In another world, without Xander's influence, this would not have been the case. If Xander had not been dropped into her lap the way he had the possibility of her having given into many more of her darker impulses was a strong one. But this world was not that world and so she hadn't, at least not entirely.

She knew that many would consider her actions towards producing an heir that Robert Baratheon would accept to be disgusting, even evil. But even if Xander had been old enough and she had felt the same way that she did for him now back then, she could never have DARED to take him into her bed with the intention of baring his children an passing them off as the king's. First of all because she knew Alexander to be far too honorable a man to go along with the lie that she would have had to pass on to the king, and secondly because of the thought of their children possibly being 'special' like their real father. Not that the thought of her children reflecting Xander's own abilities was a bad one, not at all. In fact she knew that she would be grateful should such a thing happen. Even her father would be more than happy at the thought of breeding Alexander's abilities into the Lannister line.

No, the thing that had kept her from taking Xander as the father of her children, aside from the fact that he had been but a boy at the time, was his eyes. While they were beautiful to her no matter what color they were she knew that if the eyes of Robert's heir ever started to glow that there would be real trouble. Robert Baratheon then would of course try to have her and Xander killed, that would fail, and she had no doubt that the current king would be thoroughly dead soon thereafter. Then there would be nothing but bedlam and her family would not stand for it.

So she had taken Jaime into her bed and he had been more than happy to comply with her wishes. But now he too was in the way of her fulfilling one of her heart's true desires. So now he too would have to be removed, because while she did love her brother in her own way she still loved Xander so much more. But how to go about it, all the while steering suspicion away from those involved? Before her mind could start to really ponder this question though Xander broke into her thoughts with,

"My Lady… Cersei, is there something wrong?" There was genuine concern in his voice, as there always was. He was sweet like that, always concerned for her wellbeing even when he needn't be.

"No, no everything's fine Xander. I've just been thinking is all." Cersei responded with a soft smile for her Warden.

"What about?" Xander asked as a gentle smile of his own lit up his face. He only gave that smile to her and no one else. Just another of the multitude of small things that the two of them held just between them.

"Oh, it's nothing really." Cersei deflected vaguely with a dismissive wave of her hand. That was one thing that she appreciated about her Warden, he very rarely stood on ceremony when it was just the two of them. He almost always spoke his mind and he never kept even the tiniest of secrets from her, and she only wished that she could be the same way with him. That she could be truly worthy of the unwavering trust that he had in her. But hopefully, assuming that she was able to clear away all those that stood between her and the man she envisioned every time she laid with another, she would be able to become worthy of the trust that she so cherished in some real way.

"Alright than, if you say so." Xander responded with a shrug as he merely accepted her words at their face value. And he was just about to say something else when a loud shout came from near the head of the column and brought his mind to other things entirely.

"Winterfell ahead!"

* * *

AN: Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Now we be into the meat of the story. Oh yeah, and this is also a recently edited chapter.

* * *

As Xander stood there in the main courtyard of Winterfell castle, after swiftly dismounting from Bellum, he couldn't help how he automatically began to assess every person present as the king strode up to a now kneeling Eddard Stark.

"You got fat." Was the first thing King Robert said after he motioned for his old friend to stand up. Xander couldn't help it, he snorted as he tried to hold back a laugh at the much larger man's audacity. Apparently it came out much louder than he'd expected though because in the next moment everyone in the courtyard was trying not to give him the stink eye. But they relaxed when the king himself along with Lord Stark just looked at him for a moment before they burst into laughter themselves.

"Alright, alright, I know I've let myself go! You're a right ruddy bastard, did you know that?" Robert responded jovially before he looked back to his old friend and they embraced as brothers. Then as Robert was either being introduced or reintroduced to the rest of the Stark family the door to the queen's carriage opened and Xander automatically stepped up to the side of the door as a small set of stairs was kicked down and he held out his hand. Queen Cersei offered him a small smile of thanks as she quickly took the offered appendage and placed a gentle grip upon it as she descended from the carriage and onto the wet muddy ground below. Xander then helped the two smallest Lannister children out with a smile for them that made them beam back at him in response. He had always been one of their favorite's when it came to people, that and it didn't hurt that he told some of the best stories.

Joffrey for his part looked as if he was going to complain for a moment before he forcibly shook his head at the thought. He had learned his lesson when it came to trying to force Alexander into anything years ago and it was not a lesson that he wanted to repeat. When he had been twelve years old he had been foolish enough to believe that just because he was the crowned prince that his mother's bodyguard had to do what he said. So when his demands were subsequently dismissed and ignored with ease he had tried to order some of the palace guard to apprehend the insolent cur, and with neither the king nor the queen around to countermand the order they had been forced to obey. It had not ended well.

Everyone of course survived the encounter, but more than anything it had been the way that the Warden had moved that had stuck with Joffrey the most. Alexander's attitude at the time, though he was trying not show it too terribly, had been one of almost subconscious negligence. As if the guards that he was disabling were so far below his notice that he almost didn't see them and this had for some reason shaken the young price badly. Later that evening after his parents had been apprised of what had happened, and his father had doled out Joffrey's punishment, his mother had sat him down and explained some things to him.

She explained that Alexander was actually far from normal and that there were reasons as to why those that had cause to fear him rightfully did so. At the same time though she repeatedly assured him that their cousin was still very much in the service of House Lannister, if not that of the King, so as long as Joffrey didn't push the envelope too far he had nothing to worry about. She had finished their talk that night by stating that from then on it would probably be best if her eldest son were to leave all interactions with Alexander to either her or grandfather. Apparently the Warden had issues with taking direct orders from anyone else.

Regardless though, there had just been something almost inhuman about how Alexander had both quickly and efficiently dispatched his attackers, something that would still frighten him today if he thought on it too much. After that day Joffrey merely kept too snide remarks and insults because he knew he could get away with them. Anything more and, even though he hated to admit it, he was asking for trouble. So because he saw no way around it Joffrey started to clamor off of his own horse before his uncle saw his plight and decided to lend a helping hand.

"Who's that?" Xander heard the voice of a young boy ask from behind him.

"That's Jaime Lannister, the Queen's twin brother. They also call him the Kingslayer." Another young voice, this time a girl's, responded.

"No, not him. The other man, the one standing by the queen?" The first young voice corrected before asking again.

"Oh… I don't know I've never seen him before." The other voice answered, now in genuine confusion. "He might be the Warden though."

"The Warden?"

"The Queen's Warden, said to be one of the finest warriors in the realm, almost without peer even." Yet another voice broke out, this one was older than the first two though and when Xander turned around he spotted the three individuals that seemed to find him so fascinating. Two children, a boy and a girl, and an older man with the look of a soldier and braided beard were looking at him with curiosity clearly painted on their faces. Admittedly it was much easier to see on the children than the aging man, but it was still there regardless. All Xander did though was give them a small nod and smile to let them know that he'd heard them. The children only blushed before looking away but the old soldier merely grimaced a little before giving a nod of his own and moving on.

"Making friends already Xander?" Cersei asked as she purposely kept the volume of her voice low so that only he could hear.

"Hey, it's not my fault. I've just got one of those friendly faces I guess." Xander answered back playfully. Their mood was shattered though when Robert spoke next,

"Take me to your crypts. I want to pay my respects." At these words Xander felt Cersei stiffen a little before she stepped forward with her two smallest and said,

"We've been riding a month my love, surely the dead could wait." At this Robert only gave her a quick glare before simply saying,

"Ed." Then he headed off into the castle, fully expecting to be followed, and Lord Stark could only shoot his queen a sympathetic look before going after his old friend.

"Where's the Imp?" the same young girl from before asked tactlessly as the tension from moments earlier flew right over her head.

'Probably in a brothel somewhere.' Xander thought wryly. But before his mind could wander any further into thoughts on just how predictable some people were everyone started to head inside.

"Come Alexander." The Queen beckoned as she started walking. "I'm sure that the servants can look after Bellum properly."

"Of course my Queen." Xander said before following at just a couple feet behind her and the children.

* * *

"I just can't believe his behavior." Catelyn Stark muttered darkly to herself as her eyes watched her king in the middle of Winterfell's great hall as he grabbed at yet ANOTHER servant girl. "Has he no shame? He is a king; he should be acting like one!"

"It is because he is a king that he can do this." Lady Cersei said, breaking into Lady Stark's not quite so private thoughts and briefly startling the other woman.

"If Ed ever tried any of this nonsense he would find himself waking up the next morning naked and next to a pig!" Was the Lady Stark's reply as she gave her queen a look that clearly asked 'Are you serious?'

"Eddard Stark is not the king, my husband is, and as the king he may do as he likes." Cersei said with a clear note of exasperation in her voice.

"Of course my lady, I meant nothing by it…" Catelyn Stark said quickly as she sensed that she had stumbled on to one of the queen's sore spots.

"Think nothing of it." The queen replied with an easy and accepting tone. Regardless of the Lady Stark's tactlessness Cersei found herself desiring to move on to a different topic. Thankfully her host provided her with a way out of her current no-win conversation.

"Is this your first time in the North your Grace?"

"Yes, lovely country…" Cersei replied with a distinct lack of enthusiasm though she was trying not to show it. Now where was Alexander when she truly needed him? And why wasn't he saving her from these people?

* * *

"You're not swinging that right boy." Xander said as he stepped out of the shadows of a doorway lead from the stables and training yard. He had been watching who he assumed was Eddard Stark's bastard son as the boy took his frustrations on a practice dummy. After a few minutes of this however Xander couldn't stand to not make at least some corrections to the boy's form so he'd spoken up. The boy had a lot of potential, Xander could tell that at a mere glance, and whoever had trained the boy obviously knew what they were doing… But maybe Xander could make this boy at least a bit better, it's not like he much else to do after all. His queen was busy being a queen, the children were busy being children as a horde of nannies and caretakers chased after them, and parties weren't often his forte. So there he was watching angry boy practice.

"What do you mean? I know how to swing a sword!" The boy retorted as he desperately tried to hold back his temper. It wouldn't do to offend someone as apparently important as theis 'Warden' apparently was after all.

"Oh really now… Well, I guess you could say that, if you never wanted to hit anything anyway." Xander said in a taunting fashion. He had just thought of a way to possibly help this boy out a bit, but to do that he had to get him good and mad first. He could already tell that it wasn't going to take much.

"What the hell do you know! I bet you know nothing of how to use your own blade!" The boy nearly shouted as the last of his vestiges of control began to slip away from him.

"I know that I'm better than you boy. Do you doubt me?" Xander said as he tried to fight back a smirk. Just a little more and… There!

"You're damned right I doubt you!" The boy shouted.

"Well than… You're just stupid than aren't you?" Xander taunted one last time before he suddenly had to dodge out of the way as the boy finally lost complete control of his temper and took a swing at him. "See?" Xander asked as he took another easy step to get out of the way of another haymaker like swing of the boy's sword. Then at the third swing Xander looked almost bored as he caught the lad's wrist and giving it a sharp twist to make him drop his sword before almost negligently flipping said lad over his shoulder to land hard on his back against the muddy ground.

For his part the poor bastard only looked up at the man that had so easily disabled him with a look of confusion on his face. It was as if he couldn't quite understand just how he'd ended up on the ground of all places when not even a moment ago he had been trying to shut his current tormenter the hell up.

"Now boy… Seeing as you've calmed down a fair bit, would you like to see how I did that?" With that he helped the young man to his feet before the lad merely gave him a nod of his head to indicate his acceptance. "But first, what's your name?" Xander asked with a genuine smile now gracing his features.

"Jon." The boy replied as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Jon aye? Good! Now here's where we'll start." Tyrion had joined them soon after as Xander walked Jon Snow through a few of his more basic maneuvers. Things had broken up for the evening though, right after Tyrion gave the lad a small speech about embracing who he was and of letting go on his frustration because he would never be able to do anything about them anyway. And so it was that Jon Snow, the bastard of Winterfell, gained some new perspective on his lot in life. The younger man couldn't help the small smile that he was wearing by the time his uncle Benjin arrived for the banquet.

* * *

The sight that met Lord Eddard Stark the morning after the King's welcoming feast was not one he'd expected. Who would have thought that Alexander, the Queen's Warden himself, would bother with his bastard of all people? He certainly hadn't. It's not that he didn't love his second oldest son, because he did, he just had to be careful in how often he showed the poor lad any affection, lest he risk upsetting his wife.

"No, like this." Alexander said as he sharply admonished Jon. "Never use the low guard. You fight well and whoever taught you knew what they were doing, but there are still some things you don't seem to know." Then the Warden took up a stance with one of his legs back as he held his sword at a slashing angle above his head.

"The Dancing Masters of Braavos call this the 'Guard of the Hawk'. You strike from up high like this. Now you try." With that Jon attempted to mimic his temporary teacher's stance for a moment before Alexander interrupted him again with, "No, like how I am doing. Bend your leg as you keep it back to better brace yourself and hold your sword straighter." Jon did as he was told and apparently his efforts were satisfactory because then Alexander said,

"Good. Now attack me." With that Jon lanced forward with a sideways downward stroke which his teacher easily blocked and after a couple more passes Alexander stopped there spar as he got in close and nearly punctured Jon's neck with the hand guard of his blade before he said,

"You fight well and you learn quickly, but know that the blade is not the only part of a sword." Ed could hear the younger man say seriously to his son before continuing with, "And always remember that the end of the day, honor means absolutely nothing in straight up combat. You can't keep fighting for whatever you're fighting for if you're dead. NEVER forget that…"

With that Alexander took a couple of steps back before he sheathed his own blade and his attention was called off to the side. When Ed followed the mysterious man's line of sight he saw the queen standing alongside her twin brother while motioning for her bodyguard to approach. Quiet words that he couldn't overhear were then exchanged before Alexander merely gave a sort of 'farewell for now' type of wave to Jon before the three of them set off for parts unknown. And Lord Stark was just about to send some men to find out what all of that was about when he remembered something being said about touring the Keep. So shrugging his shoulders Lord Stark turned back to where his oldest son Robb was now approaching Jon with questions on his lips and let the behavior of his guests slip from his mind.

* * *

Xander was down stairs, waiting for her return, as Cersei sought out some physical release from the stresses of watching her husband's whore mongering before drinking himself into a stupor and embarrassing her the night before. She knew she had to be quick though, otherwise Xander would come to see if she was alright and she would be discovered, her plans for the two of them ruined before they had even really begun. So there she was bent over on her hands and knees like some common whore with her dress hiked up around her waist and her undergarments pushed aside as her twin rode her with his pants down around her knees to their mutual completion.

All the while she tried to keep her mind on the fact that it was Jaime whom she was currently coupled with but thoughts of her lovely soldier kept trying to slip in and after a while she found herself imagining that it was in fact her Xander that was actually behind her instead of the man she had shared her childhood with. Then it happened…

"Uh, Xander…" Cersei moaned out and Jaime instantly froze in response.

"Xander?" Jaime ground out as he shuffled back and away from her. Then there was a noise at the window and Cersei's eyes instantly met those of the boy she remembered to be Bran Stark. She knew she was in trouble due to her slip up, the boy seeing what he undoubtedly had, and the fact that she knew that her twin wasn't the most stable of individuals. And she had no idea how she was going to fix her current predicament…

Seeing where her attention had gone Jaime quickly stood up and brought his pants to rest back around his waist as he approached the frightened boy.

"Don't be afraid…" Jaime said calmly as he reached out for the lad while plastering a somewhat manic smile onto his face. When he reach Bran he pulled the boy somewhat into the tower before saying, "Now boy, did you know that you're queen's a whore?" The boy could only barely shake his head before Jaime continued, his tone growing more and more unsettling as he spoke. "I mean, she has me and after everything I've done for her the ungrateful bitch actually has the audacity to call out for another man. A man that I KNOW hates me, just like I hate him…" Jaime said as a slight twinge of hysteria now entered his voice and a darkness that she had never seen before emerged from behind his eyes.

"But never mind all this… Tell me boy, how old are you?" Jaime asked as he smoothed out the boy's coat. Then he turned his gaze back towards his still kneeling sister and with definite gleam of madness now shining in his green orbs he said, "And this is just another thing that I've done for you…" After that there was no warning as Jaime pushed Bran out of the window so that he would fall and most likely die on the cold hard ground below. And despite herself, despite the fact that she knew she would have had to silence the boy somehow anyway, she felt a pang of guilt over the actions that had led to his death.

Such thoughts were for later though, because right now she had something far more troublesome to worry about.

"You bitch!" Jaime nearly yelled venomously as his eyes spat fire at his sister. "I give you everything, even your own children! And this is how you repay me, by casting me aside for your oh-so-precious Warden!" Jaime was approaching her now with balled fists and she knew that his next actions would be unforgiving. "No! No, I won't allow it! I won't let him have you!" Jaime said now with a shout as he lunged forward. She could tell that he didn't care that people will have noticed Bran Stark's fall from the very tower that they were in by now, that he didn't care that he'd professed his love to her own halfhearted replies just the day before, and that he didn't care that he would inevitably be caught. He just wanted to hurt her like she had hurt him. So Cersei did the only thing she could…

She screamed!

Jaime had just landed his first blow to her face when there was the sound of armored boots scraping quickly against stone just before the rotting door between her and the staircase was bashed open only to crumble under the force of the blow as it met the wall. And there he was, there was her Alexander, his eyes now shining like the sun under the force of his rage as he took in the scene before him.

* * *

He could only feel his anger grow exponentially as he took in the sight of his beloved queen on the ground with her wretch of a brother on top of her, already poised to land another blow onto her face. Her dress was hiked up to her waist while Jaime's pants were open and barely hanging onto his hips. That was enough; he didn't need to see anymore as he passed judgment on the now condemned Jaime Lannister.

The sick son of a bitch had hurt her, he had hurt the one person his heart ached for the most, and he was going to pay for his crimes. So with a firm stride Xander didn't even bother unsheathing his faithful blade, instead just summoning it directly to his hand while grabbing Jaime Lannisters perfect hair in his other fist and dragging said man off of Cersei. Then bending him over backwards in a grip that the blonde man could never have hoped to break out of Xander ground out, his voice so full of malice and hate that the soon to be deceased Jaime Lannister actually swallowed before he discovered that couldn't make himself say anything in the face of such fury,

"Any last words, trash?" After a moment of Jaime's continued panicky silence Alexander continued with a low and contemptuous, "I thought not." Alexander then he raised Ancile high before bringing her near razor edge down so hard upon the Kingslayer's exposed neck that he could have easily cleaved stone with such a stroke. Then there was a spray of blood that flooded on to the stone floor and Jaime Lannister knew no more. With that done Xander quickly dropped both Ancile and Jaime Lannister's now severed head to the ground as he rushed over to his queen in a near panic.

"I'm sorry! Oh gods, I'm so sorry that I failed you!" Xander nearly babbled as he scooped Cersei off of the ground and brought her into a fierce hug as he actually wept for her and what she had gone through. "I'll never leave your side again if I can help it! Never again, I swear it!" Xander now vowed as he continued to hold the one person who meant the most to him close, as if afraid that she would disappear should he ever let her go.

To this Cersei could only whisper reassuring things into her Warden's ear as she gently stroked his hair like she had when he had been but a child even while he was still the only real companion and friend she had in the world. He had said EXACTLY what she'd wanted to hear. He was hers and she would never let anyone else have him or take him away from her. Now she could truly start putting her other plans into play, but at that moment she had to contend with the fallout from these very recent events. After she had successfully calmed her protector down that was.

* * *

AN: Please Review!


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Ok, it's been about a month (if not just over) since I've posted the last chapter for this particular story. I don't know I guess I was finding it kind of hard to get through the filler 'grind' that will help me flesh this out a bit more before I eventually get to the real goo stuff I have planned. As always please don't expect perfection. While I do try after a certain point I just want to get the hell away from my keyboard lol.

AN: Also just to clarify a few things. I'm not sure If I've actually put this out there before but this is more a people piece with some action instead of the other way around. Sorry if this disappoints. And before anyone jumps at me for the characters not quite matching up with those from the show... Well, they're bound to be a bit different yeah? I mean, this Cersei is how I would imagine her being with a real companion in her life. Someone that was always and donsistantly there for her through everything. And while Xander doesn't know everything she's ever done he does know what she's capable of doing and accepts her anyway. Having that kind of commitment, that kind of love, reserved for only her and no one else has to have done something to her. This version of her is just what I think might have happened is all.

AN: And last but not least on the Jaime front. One of the reasons I've been kind of slow on this latest chapter is because until recently I've been stuck on future chapter. 'Cause let's face it, Jaime was a major catalyst in the original storyline but now that I've killed him off I've had to find away to pretty much spark the same things. That and while Jaime (at least to me) was a total sociopath, he wasn't as bad as I depicted him to be. I admit this but yet again Xander was in the picture and was for years taking away much of Cersei's attention from him. He knew deep down that he was being used even though his sister still loved him and it grated on him. But hey this is just what I think might have happened.

* * *

The sight that Eddard Stark saw as he entered the top of the tower that Bran had fallen from not ten minutes before would be one to stick with him for the rest of his days. The vision of the queen latched onto her bodyguard as she tried to keep herself from weeping was one he only lingered on briefly before he brought his eyes to the still and headless form of Jaime Lannister. His mind instantly began coming to its own conclusions and he did not like what it made him imagine.

"What happened here!" Lord Stark asked harshly, his voice commanding, as he stepped fully into the dilapidated room and his eyes swiveled back to where the queen was successfully pulling herself back together again. What he was about to hear would be something that only made him wish that it was possible to bring the dead back to life just so that he could kill the Kingslayer himself.

* * *

"Sire, Lord Stark..." Alexander quietly intoned as he knelt before the two older men, his voice full of both shame and sorrow at the thought of how he saw his lack of action in the tower earlier that same day. "All I can do is offer my sincerest apologies. I-I'm sorry, I wasn't paying enough attention and when I finally noticed that something was amiss I wasn't fast enough to keep that filth from his actions." Xander finished as he kept his eyes firmly on the ground, to ashamed of himself to meet the gaze of those in front of him.

"Rise Alexander… Everyone here knows that it wasn't your fault." King Robert said decisively as he motioned for the younger man to stand. "And even if any do I know that you had nothing to do with any of this. Gods only know that you would never let anything happen to Cersei if you'd even slightly suspected what might happen. You wouldn't have left her side."

"Indeed." Lord Stark said as he spoke up for the first time, his voice solemn but with a simmering anger barely being held at bay just beneath the surface. "We all know that you were not to blame. My only regret in all this, aside from Bran being hurt and the queen being defiled, is that you didn't leave the Kingslayer alive long enough so that we could see proper justice done. But, considering the nature of things; your actions towards Jaime Lannister are forgivable."

"…Thank you… My Lords." Alexander said slowly after a few moments of silent contemplation. It was hard for him to even say the words, such was his shame. His beloved queen had been harmed in one of the worst ways right under his nose and a young boy had also paid the price for his negligence because he'd happened to be in just the wrong place at just the wrong time. Xander didn't feel like he deserved any sort of forgiveness, let alone praise of any kind, but he accepted it anyway, knowing full well that to do otherwise would be an insult to the two men in front of him.

"Very good Alexander, you can leave now." King Robert said with a clear tone of dismissal in his voice. With that Xander regained a standing position before intoning a quick and quiet 'My Lords', turning on his heel, and striding out of Winterfell's great hall.

* * *

"That boy has always been too hard on himself. It's not his fault and he's acting as if he's the one who pushed your boy from that tower and forced himself on my wife." Robert said with a sigh moments after Alexander's departure to parts unknown. He was probably about to make his way back to Cersei's side but still.

"He seems like a very singular man Robert. It seems almost strange that he's a Lannister." Eddard Stark said in response, an inkling of grim humor gracing his voice despite recent events.

"He's just a VERY distant cousin to them, apparently, so I doubt that there's any real Lannister blood in him to start with." Robert replied with a snort. "But you're right, considering the fact that he's hardly ever left Cersei's presence in all the years that I've known him, he is definitely not what one would expect."

"Indeed." Was all Ned Stark had to say before he too excused himself so that he could join his wife as they waited to learn the fate of their son Bran.

* * *

To say that the general mood within Winterfell Keep was subdued the next morning would be an understatement. For the Starks, the Baratheons, and the Lannisters were all grieving, if all for different reasons. And it was this sort of atmosphere that greeted Alexander especially harshly as he stepped into Winterfell's main hall so as to join his family and charges for breakfast. When he saw Cercei sitting at the head of the table proudly, despite the fact that she had to wear makeup to cover up the large bruise that her traitor brother had given her, he felt the weight of his failures enter his stomach once more as if they were a dagger twisting and tearing away in his guts.

"Ah Alexander, come and sit by me." His cousin Tyrion called out to him with a waving gesture.

"Tyrion, how are you this morning?" Xander asked as he tried to paint a smile onto his face as he approached the main table, with everyone at said table now having there eyes firmly on him as they finally took notice of his presence.

"Well I can honestly say that I've had better." Tyrion replied with a grim smile of his own. Yes, he'd certainly had better days than the one he was experiencing now, but he didn't blame Alexander for what had happened up in that wretched tower. Tyrion knew that the younger man that was just now taking a seat next to him was far too selfless to have taken any part in what had happened up in that ruin. But regardless of whether or not what the Warden had done yesterday was the right thing there would be consequences for the death of Jaime Lannister. There was going to be a reckoning coming and he could feel it in his bones that it was going to be a large one. Gods only knew that his father was not going to take the loss of his favored son well, no matter the reasons behind it.

And Tyrion could only sigh a little as he noticed how Alexander's eyes would briefly flicker over to his sister before he lowered them in such a way as to suggest that he couldn't bring himself to look at her for longer than necessary.

"It's not your fault you know." Tyrion started softly so as to not startle Cersei's two youngest as they continued to try to wrap their minds around the fact that there Uncle Jaime was dead and that he had apparently done something terrible enough to make him deserve such a fate.

"I'm sorry?" Alexander asked as his attention was brought fully back to the small man sitting at his side.

"We don't blame you." Tyrion stated firmly before going on. "You did what you did and you did it for a good reason. What's done is done and cannot be undone, so try not to dwell on it." Afterall it wouldn't due to have Alexander think on something that he couldn't change for too long. It would distract him from his duties and Tyrion could tell that something big was coming 'down the pipe' as it were so they would most likely need him at his best in days to come. The dwarf didn't know what 'it' could possibly be but still, better safe than sorry.

"I-I know." Alexander said in response before he brought his eyes back to Cersei's form and he was just about to divert his gaze again when the queen's eyes caught his and hardened, as if daring him to break his gaze away again. Then she gave him a small personal smile, one that Tyrion had noticed that the two people in question shared between them quite a lot, and a small nod of her head. Seeing this Alexander let out a small breath that he hadn't even realized he'd been holding and sat up straighter as his own smile became a bit more genuine. All was forgiven, at least by those currently sitting at the table, and while things weren't at their best right now they were certainly looking up.

* * *

When Cersei saw the fore-lone looks that her most trusted friend and bodyguard was giving her she couldn't help but give a small internal sigh as the reasons for his actions, for his hesitation, became clear. Of course he would blame himself for what'd happened; he was just that sort of man. The sort of man that would take the weight of the world upon his shoulders for those he cared for, much less had failed, and never complain as long as he was appreciated. And she was just about to open her mouth to console him when her little brother actually beat her to it.

While normally she despised the little dwarf that she had to call family as a rule, at that moment, as Xander finally met her gaze as she gave him a quick nod in confirmation of Tyrion's words, she could have actually hugged the diminutive man of all things. Although, to be fair, the feeling didn't last…

Regardless, Cersei knew that she would have to talk with Xander as soon as they were alone again because she knew that if she didn't he would continue to stew in his own thoughts, despite what everyone else was saying to him on the matter and that would just not do.

* * *

"What do you want?" Catelyn Stark asked cautiously as Alexander stepped softly into Bran's sick room with a small linen wrapped package held in his hands.

"I have a little something for your son Bran when he wakes up." Alexander responded gently, cautiously even. He had heard that even if the young boy did awaken from his coma he had broken his back when he'd fallen and would likely never walk again. When he had first heard this at the breakfast table Alexander began wracking his brain for something, anything, more concrete, more substantial then just his condolences. What he had eventually come up with after he had seen the queen to her chambers because she'd told him that she would like to rest some more wasn't much but he truly hoped that they would accept it.

If only Xander was capable of bring Jaime's sorry ass back from the grave so that he could kill the worthless traitor all over again.

"And what would that be my lord?" Lady Stark asked; her voice still very much stained with a tone of suspicion. It had lightened somewhat though when the way the Queen's bodyguard had spoken of Bran sunk in. He had said 'when' and not 'if' Bran woke up and this implied that the young man before her genuinely wanted to see hey son get better.

"Um, these are just a couple of things from my own childhood that I thought your son might like." Xander said as he tried to studiously ignore how the Lady Stark had called him a lord. As he softly approached the Lady of Winterfell his hands went to work as he un-wrapped the items that he'd brought with him. Catelyn may not have been in the best of states right at that moment but she couldn't deny that she was curious about just what in the world such a 'quietly' renowned warrior such as Alexander could possibly offer Bran.

"This first thing is just a little something that I thought he might like to practice with in his spare time." Xander said as he presented the grieving and worried mother with a set of five well maintained and near razor sharp throwing knives. "I mean, I'd heard that he would most likely never walk again so I thought that should the worst ever happen he could at least defend himself a little. I-I'm sorry if you think that they're inappropriate but I'm afraid I don't know too terribly much about anything aside from weapons…" With that Xander gently handed over his first gift and Catelyn couldn't help but wonder about just what kind of childhood this man had if he'd had these knives from a young age. Never the less, after a moment's contemplation she could see that such a gift would indeed be well received by Bran, if for no other reason then it would make him feel a little less inhibited by his situation.

"And the second thing?" The mother of five asked, this time with a far warmer tone of voice than before. This man seemed to be nothing like any other Lannister that she'd ever met before now. He didn't even look anything like any Lannister that she'd ever even laid eyes on, almost the opposite in fact.

"This is a Star Map." The man before her said as a small genuine smile briefly lit up her features at the thought of the set of objects that he was now handing over to her. The first was cylindrical in shape and several inches in height with what appeared to be small holes poked into the metal that it was composed of, there were three of these. The second, and last, object looked to be a spring loaded turn table that had a small crank sticking out of its side. It looked like it was just large enough to comfortably stand on Bran's bedside table.

"And what, pray tell, is a Star Map?" Lady Stark asked as she kept examining the objects that she now held in her hands. She already had an idea of what this contraption might be of course (the name alone was pretty self explanatory) but she wished to have her suspicions confirmed.

"Well, if you stick a bright candle inside the cylinder and put them both on the turn table before winding it up in a dark room it will make it so that you can see the stars slowly rotate around you, even on a cloudy night." Alexander explained as he tried to keep from fidgeting under the older woman's gaze. After a few more seconds of silence in which Lady Stark quietly asked herself about just what kind of man this 'Warden' really was, the woman and mother in question finally spoke, her voice softly echoing throughout the stone and wood lined room.

"Why would you do this?"

"What do you mean?" Alexander asked, with a clear confusion flashing across his features.

"Why would you go through all this trouble? Most would have just come in, said a few words of condolence and sympathy, and then left again. Lords don't usually act like this unless their families are close to one another…" Catelyn Stark said with a somewhat guarded expression.

When she was done speaking Alexander regarded her for a moment before giving her a small, if somewhat sad, smile before saying,

"Well, it's a good thing I am no lord then. I am, after all, only Alexander." With that the younger man gave the lady of the house he and his were guests in one final nod to show just how deeply sorry he was at how her son was hurt before exiting the room just as quickly and quietly as he had come.

* * *

The heartbreak and anguish that Cersei could see as Xander's assorted masks came down while alone in her presence tugged at her heart strings in a way that only her children and himself were ever able to accomplish. They were alone inside the quarters she and her husband had been given for the duration of their stay in the north (Though she was the only one to sleep in them so far outside of her two youngest when they inevitably sought her out to comfort them.) seeing as both Myrcella and Tommen were off playing with a couple of the Stark children as well as a few of the other children that resided within the keep itself (while being looked after by a herd of nannies and other caretakers) and Joffrey was currently being left to his own devices here an there. He had come to speak with her about half an hour after he was to visit the Lady Stark so as to put forth his own condolences and now there he was, standing in front of her looking for all the world as if he had perpetrated some massive crime of some sort.

"Xander, come and sit here with me." Cersei said as she patted the spot next to her on a small couch that was off to the side of the chamber's oversized bed. After a second Xander moved forward and a few good strides later he'd managed to sit down next to his best friend and queen. The lack of space between their bodies as they rested together didn't bother him overly much though seeing as the two of them had always been close ever since he could remember. He had even been known to fall asleep with his head in her lap as a boy before Joffrey'd been born. Yet oddly enough he had never truly thought of her as any sort of maternal figure for himself…

And Xander was just about to continue down along this particular line of thinking when Cersei's voice shook him from them.

"It wasn't your fault." Cersei said resolutely as she moved to run her fingers through his dark brown locks, just like she had whenever he'd been upset as a child.

"I know. It's just…" Xander started to say as he leaned into his queen's touch before she spoke again, cutting off his next words as she did so.

"I know." With that the two of them fell into an easy silence for the better part of an hour as they simply basked in one another's presence. Times like these, where it was just the two of them allowing the troubles of their respective worlds to simply melt away from their minds had been becoming fewer and fewer as the years continued to roll on by and they were making sure to enjoy the experience while it lasted, before the outside world made itself known to them again.

But not all was as well as it seemed within this particular scene, because even then Cersei's mind was working through a problem that just would not let her mind at ease. For if young Bran Stark were to ever wake up and remember what he'd briefly seen before being pushed off of that tower… If he were actually able to accurately describe what he'd witnessed to his parents, let alone to the king, and they began to suspect that the act of lying with Jaime was in fact consensual instead of being forced on her, things would inevitably become _messy_. And if such a thing as her dalliances with her now deceased brother were to ever become known it might very well shake even her beloved Warden's faith in her...

No! She would NOT allow that… And so, even though it pained her to do so as she was indeed a mother herself, she would have to silence the boy. Besides, was it not better to end him now before he had to live the rest of his life as a cripple? Why yes, she thought it was.

So as Cersei sat there next to her most stalwart companion and protector and asked herself these questions the only answer that she could come up with over and over again was yes. But how was she to shift suspicion from herself and onto someone more expendable? Now this she would have to put some thought into.

* * *

AN: Well, that's it for now folks! Please don't forget to leave a review should you have the time ^.^! With all the best and hoping to see you all next time, -Relim


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